The sociolinguistic study presented here offers insights on variation and the defining of register in Arabic political discourse. The research is based on three dialects (Egyptian, Iraqi and Libyan) and on political speeches delivered by Gamal Abdunnasir, Saddam Hussein and Muammar Al Gadhdhafi. The data of this study is based on video and audio recordings of the speeches and, in order to determine the language varieties used by the speakers, phonological, morphophonological, syntactic and lexical data is analyzed. Notions such as phonological convergence, communicative competence, prestigious versus dominant dialects, together with mechanisms of code-switching and code-mixing are examined. There is an attempt to relate language form to function in discourse, i.e. the relationship between the speaker's use of language and the subject of his discourse, and a discussion of the concept of "involvement" in Arabic political discourse. Functional and stylistic parallels in Arabic and English political oratory are also studied. Given that applicability and representativeness of the data go beyond its local stance, the work draws conclusions about the "universality" of language strategies

This socio-linguistic study throws new light on variation and the defining of register in Arabic political discourse. The research is based on three dialects (Egyptian, Iraqi and Libyan) and on political speeches delivered by Gamal Abdunnasir, Saddam Hussein and Muammar Al Gadhdhafi.